Hey all! Hope everyone’s week is going well! This is going to be a shortish post because I’m currently in the middle of hitting myself over the head with my accounting textbook, hoping something stays with me for my big test on Thursday. Wish me luck.. Anyway, I had my 16 mile run last Saturday and all I’m gonna say is I finished. Not my best, but not my worst, either. I just did it. And it was hard. I’m feeling good, though. No injuries and no pain anywhere during my runs finally (except for my knee but that’s a different story). I guess I should say no running-related pains. I’m pretty sore after them but I’ve been icing and stretching and I feel good today! Now real quick I’ll tell you about my knee. This would be an appropriate time to get popcorn and enjoy the scene I’m going to lay before you. Last Wednesday I did my 8 mile run around the National Mall, the monuments, the Capitol, and all those beautiful things (you can see in the pictures below). And while I was running around the tidal basin at mile 3, I ran through a big muddy area (it poured the night before), got my foot caught on an outstretching root, and proceeded to face plant. Hard. I almost fell IN the tidal basin… seriously. Panicking that the group of European tourists I had just passed was about to come around the bend and start taking pictures of this spastic girl laying in the mud, I was quick to get up and get out of there. I was covered head-to-toe in mud and bleeding profusely from my knee and elbow. My hair was a mess and I was sweating like crazy. Not exactly the picture of a graceful runner. I think I scared a few people after that when they saw me coming. Anyway, I finished all 8 miles of that run and looked totally badass, if I do say so myself. But when I fell I hit my left knee really hard and I think I have a bad bone bruise. It hurts to run and walk and go down stairs. I can run through it but I just hope it goes away soon. Ugh! It’s always something…

So if you couldn’t tell from the title I was SUPER excited about my 14 mile run this past weekend!! Never thought I’d be saying that but it was awesome! I run about as fast as a turtle but I am consistent. I honestly ran 13.5 of the 14 miles and every one of my mile times was within maybe ten seconds of the others. So I’m happy about that! I felt great after, too. I was home from school for this run and did several large laps around my tiny town. My parents got in their car too and drove around bringing me water, power bars, and keeping me moving. Just seeing them helps so much! And my mom ran the last 2.5 miles with me too! Woohoo, Robin!! And then as I collapsed the second after I finished the 14th mile, my amazing boyfriend pulled up with pancakes and gatorade… love him 🙂 My mom took some great pictures too that day so I’m sharing them with you all!

Quick shout out to Mrs. Bacon for all her amazing help and marathon wisdom! She helped me come up with a new training schedule for my last 7 weeks so I don’t injure myself trying to catch up to my previous one. She is fantastic and helped me so so much!!

And lastly, thanks SO much to my most recent donors, the Berry family, the Bacon family, and Jonathon Hendler (who is also running the marathon for WITNESS)!! I can’t thank you guys enough!

Now we are at 7 weeks to go. 12 miles to go. $1400 to go. I can do this!!! Enjoy the pictures from this weekend 🙂

Hi everyone!! I hope all you wonderful readers, supporters, and donors are doing well! We are almost officially at 8 WEEKS til race day!!! Oh boy. Let me give you a recap on my last week. So I had three great runs during last week and was totally prepared to do 16 miles on Saturday. Well, that didn’t exactly happen. I did get to 10, however, and I totally count that run as a success! I stopped because I strained something behind my knee and it was getting worse the more I ran on it. My dad and I have come to the conclusion that maybe I wasn’t gifted with a distance runner’s body. Oh well. I can stay in one piece for 8 more weeks because there is no way I’m missing out on this race! I have trained for so long and I’m working really hard on fundraising too. I can’t wait to cross that finish line and I can’t wait to have this accomplishment. I’ve really worked for this! Oh and by the way, I just want to give a big shout out to my wonderful mother, Robin, for picking me up off the ground on Saturday (figuratively, not literally). I couldn’t have done that run without you!

Speaking of fundraising, this brings me to my next point – thanking the donors! I am so grateful to everyone supporting me right now and I’m proud to tell you all that we have reached $1,500! That’s halfway there!!! I can’t explain to you all how blessed I feel to be supported by so many friends, neighbors, and family members. You guys inspire me so much. So now, it’s time to thank my most recent supporters, the Pencek family, the LaPenna family, the Buch family, the Johnson family, and the Lancaster family. THANK YOU!!!!!!!

“The finish line is the same for all runners. How we get there and what we do along the way are what matters most. The journey defines us.” – Bill Katovsky

“Just move your legs. Because if you don’t think you were born to run, you’re not only denying history; you’re denying who you are.” – Dr. Dennis Bramble

“Have you ever felt worse after a run?” – George Sheehan

“When we run, we are already so exposed, often nearly naked in our shorts and t-shirts, huffing and puffing, purified by the effort. Briefly removed from the defenses and secrets we maintain in so much of our lives, we feel less need to hide our private thoughts, loves, fears, and stresses. We share.” – Amy Burfoot

“If I don’t run, I’ll get fat again.” – Dave Low

“It’s very hard in the beginning to understand that the whole idea is not to beat the other runners. Eventually you learn that the competition is against the little voice inside you that wants to quit.” – George Sheehan

“Except for .001 percent of the running population, everyone’s in the exact same position: There will always be people slower than you, and people faster.” – Runners World, “Ask Miles”

“There is an expression among even the most advanced runners that getting your shoes on is the hardest part of any workout.” – Kathrine Switzer

These pearls of wisdom are from a book of runners quotes that my best friend Jenn gave to me shortly after I decided to run this marathon. I love reading through them and just thought I’d share a couple with you all. I got all my short runs in this week and am resting today to get ready for my 16 mile run tomorrow (eek!). This is going to be my first long run since my injury so my goal is just to finish.. just get it done and I’ll work on getting better at it on the next long run. Also, I have some new donors to thank!! You all have been so awesome and generous and I’d like to hugely thank the Porter family and the Salandra family! Thank you so much!!! I am now OVER $1,000!!! So just 2 months left to raise $2,000. We can do this!!

So I’m back running again – I started up like two weeks ago, but it was tricky getting back into my routine and working and getting ready to move back to college all at the same time! Now I’m settled in and ready to jump back into it! I had a great 3.5 mile run tonight and hope to get my next long run in this weekend. I’m almost at $1,000 with my fundraising! Only $2,000 more to go… yikes! But I’d like to take a second to hugely thank my most recent donors that have helped me reach 1/3 of my goal. So, a big big thanks to Granny, Dean Sheridan, the Sessler family, and the Blee family!!!!!!

This post is solely to thank all of my wonderful donors!! This past week I mailed out fundraising letters and I have been so immensely touched to receive so much support! Let me start by personally thanking my most recent donors, the James family, the Osborne family, Dan & Moira Baylog, Dr. Crafton, and the Condrey family. THANK YOU!!! You are all so terrific and I am so grateful for you!

Just a quick update – I’m in the middle of taking 1-2 weeks off right now. I was having a lot of pain in my left Achilles about two weeks ago after my 10 mile run so I went to a doctor who told me I had tendinitis. She told me to rest, ice, do physical therapy and stop running for several weeks. Well, I’m resting for a week or two but I don’t really have that much more time to take off. The marathon is in three months! I don’t want to make this worse but I need to start running again this week. I’ll start slow and make sure I’m icing and stretching better than I have been. Fingers crossed that it doesn’t get worse!